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John 17: 6 – 19. There are 26 verses in Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer but 21 of them focused on His disciples and their life in this world as He prepared to leave them. The principal objective of His prayer is found at the end of this segment (John 17:19): viz., our sanctification.

In Scriptural parlance, to sanctify anything or anyone is for the article or person to be set apart, or to be cut-off or separated from normal usage, as holy for Yahweh’s use. True spirituality is all about holiness, and its significant is characteristically modelled by Jesus’ earthly life.

This farewell prayer, in the presence of His eleven disciples, possibly towards the end of the Last Supper, revealed His critical thinking, hours before His arrest and eventual crucifixion. It was to provide some insight to secure the holiness of those who believed in Him through His sacrifice at the cross (John 17:19; c.f., 1Peter 1:14-16).

Holiness is synonymous with God, hence any fellowship with Him is inevitably on the basis of Christ’s holiness (1Cor 1:30-31; John 14:6). Because spiritual holiness is so alien to earthly life, its palpable manifestation customarily attracts a negative repercussion that challenges its articulation in our world; a significant reminder that we are holy only when we are ‘in Christ.’ In any case, sinfulness detests to be reminded of God’s holiness and presence (John 17:14).

Our spiritual position in Christ imputes righteousness to us. But we all realise that living a righteous or holy life is a realistically dynamic process that confronts our fallen humanity every moment, as long as we are alive, in this world. Nevertheless, to be sanctified is to devote one’s life exclusively for a single divine purpose; just as Jesus did as He appeared in our world for the purpose of sacrificing Himself as the Lamb of God Who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29; John 3:16; 1John 4:10; Rom 8:1-11).

Thus, to be holy is to obey God explicitly and unconditionally (John 17:6-12; Rom 12:1-2). In a sense, holiness is not totally about desisting from temptations and sins, but a recognition of our identity in Christ, and ‘expressing Him’ in the public domain.

It is about unqualified obedience to God, as we belong to no one else, not even ourselves (1Cor 6:17-20). Although the salvation of souls is predicated individually, in Jesus’ prayer, it is ultimately ‘the oneness’ within the worldwide church community that ideally testifies to Yahweh’s presence in His Body (John 17:11; Rom 12:5).

The Lord is not referring to the ecumenical reunion of Christendom but something much more profound, a unity of heart, mind and will in Himself; a new way of life in Christ that embraces all believers (c.f., 1Peter 2:9-10), “that they may be one even as We are One” (John 17: 21 – 23).

What does it mean when we are specifically a people devoted to holiness? Jesus prayed that we may be sanctified in the truth, that is, sanctified through the Word of God (John 17:17; John 1: 1 - 2). It is Scripture that exposited for us what it means to be holy before God, as we do not possess any innate sense of holiness apart from God (Rom 3:23-24).

With a sensitised conscience, our familiarisation with His Law, provoked us into realizing how utterly condemned we stood before a holy God and totally incapable of redeeming ourselves (Rom 3:20), and the only route towards His forgiveness is through the death of His Son.

For our sakes Jesus set Himself apart whole-heartedly as a sacrificial Lamb that we may also be set apart in reconciliation to God by believing and trusting Him (John 17:19; c.f., John 14:16; Eph 2:8-9). To be sanctified is to inordinately appreciate the remarkable grace of God for laying His own life down for us in securing our salvation.

When we allow this truth to sink deep into our consciousness, only then can we appreciate that God died for us that we may freely live a sanctified life in Christ (c.f., Rev 21).

About Coram Deo

Coram Deo — before the face of God. This blog reflects on Scripture, world events, science, music, psychology, and the human mind — always through the lens of Christian faith. All of life is lived before the face of God.